Valve mechanism.



HQ A.VHECKER.

VALVE MECHANISM.

APPLicATxoN FILED MAY 1s. 1913.

l 1 99,070. Patened Sopt.- 26, 1916.

@Fllt Hn'oo'a. Haenen, or maritimen, ome, Assiettes 'ro enmarcan Lannion?? MACHINERY COMPANY, or cinemas-'ranma A CORPORATION' or onto.

vanvn MEcHamsM.

Specification of vLetters Patent.

Patented sept. sarei,

Application led May 16, 1913. Serial No. 767,987.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that HUeo A. HECKER, of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of aOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvemenets in Valve Mechanisms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de' scription of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a rpart of this specification, ajnd, to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

My invention relates to valve mechanisms of the type embodied in washing machines, and structures cfa similar character, Where it is desirable at'certain intervals t0 drain the receptacle by holding open the valve,v

and ithas for its object to provide a convenient? and simple arrangement by which r the valve is normally with the valve body to prevent the discharge of the contents of the receptacle, and so that by a very slight operation the valve may be opened, and is thereafter automatically held in open position until the receptacle is empty. e

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts all as' will be hereinafter morev fullydescribed, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In thedrawings: Figure l is a vertical sectional view of a preferred embodiment of my invention, the valve being closed; Fig. 2 is a `similar View with the valve in open position; Fig. 3 is a. vertical sectional view on the line 3* 3a of Fig. 1; Fig. iis a detail sectional-vien7 on the line AlL--fia oi Fig. 2, and Fig.. 5 is a detail elevation of the treadle mechanism.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several gures indicate the same parts.

According to thepresent embodiment of.

the invention, 1 designates the valve body which may be attached to the liquid recep-l y tacle of the machine in any convenient manner, as usual in this class of apparatus and to this end, said body is preferably provided with openings to receive the bolts 2 which engage the face plate 3, the latter i being secured to the receptacle by suitable attaching means through the openings 4.

The valve body is provided with the valve .seat 5 which is adapted to receive the valve 6, the latter being arranged for vertical closed position,

in close engagement Y receptacle of its contents,

movement in the valve body, and weighted sufficient-ly so that it is normally held in its as shown in Fig. 1. by gravity. In order= to properly center the valve, and to guide it in its upA and down movements, it is provided with radial wings I and a flange 8 which coperate with the. inner surface of the valve body, the latter having -a downwardly extended collar 9v to form a bearing surfaceoi suiicient extent to guide the valve properly. Any suit able means may be employed to limit the upward movement of thevalve, and this is preferably accomplished by aI pin or proje'ction 10 car'ried by one of the ribs f7 and arranged for' engagement with the-bottom of the Harige 9. i

In order to effect operation of the valve to open it, I provide the lever 11, pivoted to the valve body at 12 and having pivotal! connection with the valvel at 13 ,by means of the lugs 14. The lever 11 is adapted to'be operated .by the foot enga-ging portion 15 and when the latter is depressed, the valve is raised as shown in Fig. 2 to empty the the weight of the valve being sullicient under normal condi tions to overcome the Weight of the outer end of the lever 11 to force itself into. .tight engagement; with the valve seat.

It is desirable that some means be pr`ovided which will automatically come into" operation when the valve is raised, so as to hold it open as long as necessary, and to this end,-I preferably provide' the operating lever with locling3means arranged to coperate with the valve body when the lever is depressed, to lock the valve against closing, and in the present embodiment, this l means consists of a locking member or pawl 16 pivoted on the lever and adapted to co-f.

operate with a locking shoulder 17 on the valve body. The locking member 16 is arranged to be automatically moved into enga gement with the locking shoulder 17 when the lever 11 is depressed, and is, therefore, preferably spring actuated. 18 is a con- 'necting rod pivoted to the pawl 16 and guided in the post 19, the locking member 4being moved into locking position by means of a spring 20 surrounding said connecting rod and arranged between the post 19 and an adjustable stop 21.. The connecting rod 18 is pivoted to one arm of a bellcranlr 22 which is pivoted at 23 to the lever 11 and carries a treadle or foot engaging portion 24 arranged adjacent to the previously mentioned `foot engaging portion 15 on the lever 11, as shown more clearly in Fig. Steam is supplied to the apparatus from any suitable Source' through a hollowfconnection 25 which is threaded into the valve body and leads to a passage 26 having communication with the interior of the .chamber through a series of openings 27. By this arrangement, the steam coming` in strikes the wall '28 and is thereby spread out into more or less of a thin sheet which passes through the openings 27 and effects a proper intermingling l with the water in the receptacle.

' In the operation of the device, when it is desired to discharge the contents ot' the liquid tchamber, the valve 6 is raised by d'epressing the lever 1l, whereupon the locking member 16 is moved into engagement with the `valve body as shown in Fig. 2, and holds the valve in its elevated position until the receptacle is drained. The valve is returned i to its closed position by depressing the foot engagingportion 24, which withdraws the lockiirg member from the shoulder 17, and permits the valve to .close under its own weight.

I claim as my invention:

1. A valve mechanism for washing machines comprisingl in combination a valve body having a seat and a gravity controlled valve coperating therewith, a lever pivotally mounted on the valve body having pivotal connection with the valve and operating when moved downwardly to open the valve, a shoulder {o1-med on the valve body, a locking member pivotally mounted on the lever and automatically cooperating* with `said shoulder to lhold the valve open when. the

lever is moved. downwardly, an operating device pivoted upon the lever and-operating when moved downwardly to release the locking member and permit the valve to close, and a connection between the operat "ing device and the locking member.

2. A valve mechanlsm for washlng ma.-

4"ing when moved downwardly to release `the locking member and permit the valve to` close, a connectionbetweenthe operatingde-l vice and the locking member, and. foot engaging portions carried by the operating device and said lever respectively and karranged in juxtaposition at one side of eachy other and both being operable in a downward direction for opening or closing the valve.

HUGO A. HECKER.

vV'Vitnesses l Y EDMUND I. CUTTER, EARL H. Brass. 

